Hurricane Nicholas makes landfall on the Texas coast, Apple's iPhone 13: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Gov. Gavin Newsom is widely expected to retain his position as the California recall election wraps up. Plus, House Democrats push for tax hikes, Hurricane Nicholas makes landfall, we may find out more about the next iPhone and Broadway is back.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 14th of September 2021. Today, it's recall election day in California. Plus, iPhone 13 may be announced, and more.

Taylor Wilson:

Here are some of the top headlines.

1. All flights of Afghan refugees into the United States will be paused for another seven days. The Pentagon said it's following a CDC request due to measles outbreaks among refugees at three different US bases.

2. A new World Bank report found that 200 million people may have to move by 2050 due to climate change. Unless urgent action is taken to curb global emissions, things like water scarcity and rising sea levels could contribute to climate migration.

3. And Nicki Minaj says she's not vaccinated against COVID-19. The rapper said she wants to do more research before getting the jab.

Taylor Wilson:

It's recall election day in California. Voters are deciding whether Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom should be recalled and, if so, who should replace him. Conservative talk show host Larry Elder remains the favorite in the opponent's field, but recent polling shows that Newsom will probably remain in office. The election grew out of frustrations with Newsom's pandemic orders that closed schools and businesses for months.

Taylor Wilson:

Elder's camp has recently been trying to distract from on-field politics. He was joined by activist and former actress Rose McGowan on Sunday. She was one of the earliest women to accuse producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. She now says that Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, tried to convince her in 2017 not to go public with her allegations.

Rose McGowan:

When I finally got on the phone with Jennifer Siebel Newsom, from what I assumed was about movie projects, imagine my surprise when she says, "What can Boies Schiller do to make you happy?" Again, I had no idea who that was. I just said, "Nothing," and hung up on her. That was my last contact with her.

Larry Elder:

If somebody had said my significant other contacted on behalf of Attorney Boies, who's Harvey Weinstein's lawyer, and called Rose McGowan and said, "What can we do to make you go away? What can we do to make this happy?" That's all you guys would be talking about between now and the end of my campaign.

Taylor Wilson:

Newsom is denying that, calling them part of a politically driven hit piece.

Gavin Newsom:

I guess they are doing a last-minute classic hit piece. She's a big promoter of Larry Elder. Apparently, Rose is identifying with him over us and has been making some pretty outrageous and absolutely foundationless accusations against my wife. That just shows you how low things go in campaigns these days.

Taylor Wilson:

The exchange came as part of growing tensions in the final hours before the election closes. Last week, while touring homeless encampments in Los Angeles, a woman wearing a gorilla mask threw an egg toward Elder before taking a swing at a member of his entourage. Elder, who is trying to become California's first Black governor, said if he were a Democrat, the incident would have been a bigger story. Other conservatives said it was not immediately called racist because Elder is a conservative. Meanwhile, a day after, Elder appeared with Rose McGowan. Newsom was joined by president Joe Biden yesterday.

Joe Biden:

This is not hyperbole. The eyes of the nation are on California because the decision you're about to make isn't just going to have a huge impact on California. It's going to reverberate around the nation and, quite frankly, not a joke, around the world. Here's why. All of you know that last year I got to run against the real Donald Trump. This year, the leading Republican running for governor is the closest thing to a Trump clone that I've ever seen in your state.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden also referenced the recall's central theme, the pandemic, saying that Newsom will be the governor to "help us finish the job." Elder has also pointed to what he calls failures by Newsom on public education, water, and wildfires, with the latter two huge themes in the state during summer months in particular. Before speaking yesterday, President Biden praised Newsom's leadership on responding to climate change, which is contributing to the fires becoming bigger and more destructive. Though Elder says, Democratic leaders have not appropriately managed California's forests, leaving more fuel for fires to run through. Other major candidates in today's recall include the former Republican Mayor of San Diego Kevin Faulconer, and Democratic YouTuber Kevin Paffrath.

Taylor Wilson:

House Democrats, today, are expected to propose a series of tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations. The move comes as they try to find ways to fund their spending proposals, including a large-scale expansion of the social safety net, touching on family care, public education, and climate policies. The tax changes would raise nearly $3 trillion in revenue and would bring back a tiered system for corporate taxes. It would raise the rate from 21% to 26.5% for corporations that have more than $5 million in annual revenue while lowering it to 18% for companies that make less than $400,000 in revenue. Individuals would get the rate at $400,000, households at $425,000, and married couples at $450,000. And for individual high-income earners, the capital gains rate would increase from 20 to 25%. Democrats are expected to bring up the proposals in Committee today and tomorrow.

Taylor Wilson:

Hurricane Nicholas has made landfall in Texas. The Category 1 storm could bring up to 20 inches of rain to parts of the Gulf Coast, including the same area slammed by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. One worry with Nicholas is how slowly it's moving. According to Jim Kossin of The Climate Service, storms, in general, are moving slower in recent decades, and Nicholas could also get stuck between two other weather systems. There are worries that Houston could get flooded later today. Authorities have deployed rescue vehicles throughout the city and created barricades to try and prevent severe flooding.

Taylor Wilson:

Well, it's a big day for iPhone fans. In what's become a near-annual event, Apple is expected to unveil the next version of its ubiquitous smartphone today. The tech giant is holding an event called California Streaming. While the company didn't specifically include information related to the iPhone in its event invite, September is usually when new iPhones are announced. It's not clear what exactly will be upgraded in iPhone 13. Some analysts say to expect a bump in storage and possibly a version of portrait mode for video. Money/tech editor Brett Molina has some thoughts on what he wants from the new device.

Brett Molina:

First thing that I want from the next iPhone is a better battery, which seems obvious because we use our phones all the time. Of course, we're going to want better battery. It almost feels like an annual request. But, at the same time, I feel like you have to make it anyway because every year you get a new iPhone, it has a really good processing chip, which means your phone runs faster. It can run a bit more powerful apps. Those apps are drawing more from the processor, but it also means they're also drawing more from the battery. I'd really like a better battery, something a little more meaningful too. A lot of these Apple events, you hear, "Oh, the battery has 10% more," or whatever. I'd like it to be a little bit more. That'd be nice. That's all I'm asking.

Brett Molina:

The next request I have is, get rid of the camera notch at the top of the screen. I bring this up because recently Samsung announced its new foldable smartphones. The feature that jumped out to me were the front-facing cameras on these phones that were placed just underneath the display. I love that idea. I love the idea, too, of getting that clean iPhone screen look where it's just a perfect rectangle. There's not that little notch that gets in the way and is occasionally a little annoying to look at.

Brett Molina:

I would just love to see them try to do something like that with this iPhone. The next thing I would like isn't technically related to the device itself, but it's more about the packaging. I would love it if they put a charging adapter back in the box. I don't want the little dinky one that used to come with every other earlier iPhone. I want something a little more substantial. I mean, ideally, I'd love it if they gave you the one that came with iPads. It's a little bit bigger. It'll still charge your phone pretty quickly. The benefits of that, too, is have the one that current iPads have, that support the USB-C lightning cables, which, again, charges your phone faster. They rolled out these new cables but no new adapter. I just would like to have the adapter, seriously.

Brett Molina:

The final thing I would add to my list of things that I would like to see from the next iPhone is the return of touch ID. I'm honestly not a huge fan of using my face to log into my phone or to log into my apps or verify my identity. I did really like using Touch ID. You just put your thumb over the sensor back when there was a home button, and it just unlocks your phone. Or if you had an extra layer of security, or whatever, to an app, you could just do the same thing. It was really easy. It was just really simple to use. I would love if they would bring it back. Now, it's going to be different because there's no home button. But it's Apple. I mean, they're pretty good at making technology. I trust them to figure out a solution to this. But again, I would love to see touch ID brought back because it was a nice feature.

Taylor Wilson:

You can hear more from the world of tech on the Talking Tech podcast. Find it wherever you're listening right now.

Taylor Wilson:

Broadway is back. After 18 months of coronavirus closures, major New York City theater productions will reopen at full capacity today. Among the shows returning, fan favorites like Chicago, Hamilton, and The Lion King. Broadway performances were initially suspended due to COVID-19 on March 12th, 2020. At that time, 31 productions were running, including eight new shows in previews. Another eight shows were in rehearsals preparing to open that spring. Some smaller shows have already returned but with limited capacities. This week, the industry is trying to jumpstart what it hopes will be close to a full return by the winter holidays. Broadway employs nearly 100,000 people and is a massive part of New York City's economy and tourism sector. Before the pandemic, almost a quarter-million people were seeing a Broadway show every week.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us wherever you're listening right now. I want to ask that you subscribe or follow, depending on where you're listening. Thanks, as always, to Shannon Green and Claire Thornton for their great work on the show. I'll be back tomorrow with another edition of 5 Things, right here, on the USA Today Network.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Nicholas hits U.S., Calif. recall election: 5 Things podcast